• Articles

    Back Pain in Children and Adolescents

    Suraj Achar, Jarrod Yamanaka

    Back pain is a relatively common condition in children. Typical causes include muscle strain or spasm, spinal deformities, spondylolysis, bulging or herniated intervertebral disks, apophysitis of the iliac crest, and functional pain syndromes. Spondyloarthropathies may...

    Blood Product Transfusion in Adults: Indications, Adverse Reactions, and Modifications

    Jay S. Raval, Joseph R. Griggs, Anthony Fleg

    Transfusion of blood products is a common medical procedure, although it can cause adverse reactions. Physicians should consider the patient's relevant laboratory data, overall clinical circumstances, adjuncts, and feasible alternatives as part of the informed consent process...

    Cervical Colposcopy: Indications and Risk Assessment

    Jessica Valls Burness, Jillian Marie Schroeder, Johanna B. Warren

    Changes in cervical cancer screening and guidelines, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination recommendations, and colposcopy standards from the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology have implications for all primary care clinicians. Cervical cancer screening...

    Editorials

    The Promise and Challenge of Home Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Akshay Sood, Jolene Walker

    The COVID-19 pandemic presents family physicians with unique opportunities to work with home health providers to combat the pandemic, provide quality care, and ease the burden of fear among patients.

    Graham Center Policy One-Pager

    Family Physicians Play Key Role in Bridging the Gap in Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

    Rohit Abraham, Elizabeth Wilkinson, Yalda Jabbarpour, Andrew Bazemore

    Buprenorphine prescribing in primary care is a key bottleneck in the access to medications for opioid use disorder (OUD). In a Medicare claims study including family medicine, internal medicine, general practice, and psychiatry, the largest share of buprenorphine prescribers...

    AFP Clinical Answers

    COVID-19 and Remdesivir, Insulin Analogues, Opioid Use Disorder, Urinary Incontinence

    Key clinical questions and their evidence-based answers directly from the journal’s content, written by and for family physicians.

    Cochrane for Clinicians

    Role of Mucolytics in the Treatment of Chronic Bronchitis or COPD

    Jeanmarie B. Rey, Afsoon A. Anvari

    Oral mucolytic agents may reduce the number of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic bronchitis or COPD (number needed to treat [NNT] = 8 over an average of nine months; 95% CI, 7 to 10).

    Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smoking Cessation

    Kathleen Barry, Jorge Finke

    Patients using a combination of nicotine patch and fast-acting NRT are more likely to quit smoking than those on any single therapy alone (number needed to treat [NNT] = 29; 95% CI, 20 to 47).

    Photo Quiz

    Knee Bruising and Swelling in a Teenager

    Megan Ferderber, Kellner Pruett

    A teenaged baseball player presented with left knee pain, bruising, and swelling, as well as subjective quadriceps weakness 10 days after sustaining a leg injury while sliding into home plate.

    FPIN's Help Desk Answers

    Antiemetics for Acute Gastroenteritis in Children

    Pnina Strasbourger, Gary Kelsberg, Sarah Safranek

    Oral ondansetron (Zofran) may be given to children presenting to the emergency department with vomiting and mild to moderate dehydration from acute gastroenteritis. It reduces hospital admissions and the need for intravenous hydration.

    Diagnostic Tests

    PAULA's Test for Lung Cancer Screening

    Karl T. Clebak, Michael T. Partin, Megan Mendez-Miller

    PAULA's test (Protein Assays Utilizing Lung Cancer Analytes) is a blood test for early detection of lung cancer in high-risk adults.1 Eligible patients are 50 years or older, current or former smokers with more than a 20-pack-year history and less than 15 years of smoking...

    Curbside Consultation

    A Primary Care Approach to Adverse Childhood Experiences

    Jennifer Hinesley, Alex Krist

    A 41-year-old long-time patient presented with concerns about irritability, depression, and anxiety after getting into another fight with her mother-in-law. The patient was concerned that her symptoms were getting worse, and she was worried about lacking control over her...

    Practice Guidelines

    Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: AAP Updates Guideline for Diagnosis and Management

    Libby Wetterer

    Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is diagnosed in 7% to 8% of children. It affects academic achievement and socioemotional well-being. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated guidelines to emphasize evaluation for comorbid conditions and overcoming...

    Medicine by the Numbers

    Vitamin D Supplementation and All-Cause Mortality

    Bruce M. LeClair, Celine Si, Jontu Solomon

    Observational studies have shown that those with low vitamin D levels have higher cancer and cardiovascular mortality. Read more to learn about the effect of vitamin D supplementation on all-cause mortality.

    Letters to the Editor

    The COVID-19 Pandemic Is a Battle Against Disease, Fear, and Misinformation

    Timothy N. Stephens

    Beware of False-Positive Results with SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Tests

    Mark H. Ebell, Henry C. Barry



    Disclosure

    All editors in a position to control content for this activity, AFP journal, are required to disclose any relevant financial relationships. View disclosures.


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